Hey folks!

The third week of the Best Album of 2001 is over, and no real surprises — all the higher seeds defeated the lower seeds, as expected. Things of some note: JANE DOE and BLACKWATER PARK both got ~36% of the vote, which, for seeds of those standings, is pretty darn good; there were six abstentions in the LET IT COME DOWN/B.R.M.C. match, which I think is a record (at the very least, it’s a lot); the PARTY MUSIC/THE SWIMMING HOUR match had the least amount of total votes in the tournament so far.

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #25 Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE defeated #104 Converge, JANE DOE, 154-93-3. (250 total votes, +61)

On Tuesday, #4 Daft Punk, DISCOVERY defeated #125 Tipsy, UH-OH!, 149-58. (207 total votes, +91)

On Wednesday, #9 Spoon, GIRLS CAN TELL defeated #120 Opeth, BLACKWATER PARK, 151-87. (238 total votes, +64)

On Thursday, #56 Spiritualized, LET IT COME DOWN defeated #73 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, B.R.M.C., 110-86-6. (202 votes, +24)

On Friday, #24 The Coup, PARTY MUSIC defeated #105 Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, THE SWIMMING HOUR, 113-45-1. (159 total votes, +68)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, April 13th: #41 Sparklehorse, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE vs.#88 Pernice Brothers, THE WORLD WON’T END.

Tuesday, April 14th: #40 Aphex Twin, DRUKQS vs. #89 Muse, ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY.

Wednesday, April 15th: #61 Pulp, WE LOVE LIFE vs. #68 Les Savy Fav, GO FORTH.

Thursday, April 16th: #29 Built to Spill, ANCIENT MELODIES OF THE FUTURE vs. #100 Mercury Rev, ALL IS DREAM.

Friday, April 17th: #36 The Microphones, THE GLOW PT. 2 vs. #93 Elbow, ASLEEP IN THE BACK.

We currently have Designated Cheerleaders for ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY, ANCIENT MELODIES OF THE FUTURE, and THE GLOW PART 2, but as of this writing, that’s it. If you’d like to write a DC for any of the other albums (or any album that already has one!), please send it to me at kentmbeeson@hey.com. Thanks!

One last thing. A few weeks ago, I ran a survey about what years Best Album should tackle in the near future. Now that I’ve seen the results, I have some thoughts. However, I suspect I will break this up into two newsletters: one just relaying the results, and then a follow-up about what it all means, ideally after hearing your reaction to it. Look for that first newsletter this weekend.

Hope you had a great week,

Kent